Publication Order of Jefferson Winter Short Stories/Novellas

The name Jefferson Winter refers to a series of crime fiction novels written by James Carol. The books chronicle the adventures of a former FBI Agent who tracks down killers for a living.

+The Story
Albert Winter was just a man. People knew him as a maths teacher. Those that called him friend spoke of the role he played so well as a husband and a father. But for the most part, Albert was just a man, or so everyone thought.

The truth destroyed Jefferson Winter’s life. Albert Winter was a serial killer, one of the most prolific the United States had ever seen. His MO involved abducting women, letting them loose in a forest and then hunting them down like animals.

Albert was pretty good at his job. But nothing lasts forever. The demented fellow was eventually caught, imprisoned for two decades and finally executed. That was the end of the Albert Winter story for everyone else.

But Jefferson couldn’t simply move on. His father’s proclivities drove him to question everything he knew about his life and the world. And after a successful career in law enforcement, the rising star left the FBI to become a freelance consultant.

By the time ‘Broken Dolls’, the first novel in the Jefferson Winter series starts, Jefferson has become an established consultant for the police. He spends his days jetting from city to city, state to state, country to country helping law enforcement agencies to catch particularly difficult serial killers.

‘Broken Dolls’ finds Jefferson in London where he has been charged with finding a serial killer that keeps lobotomizing young women.

There is a formula to the Jefferson Winter series. The books are not necessarily predictable. However, there is a structure to the sorts of stories that James Carol tells. Each new installment takes readers to a new setting.

That is essentially Jefferson’s way of life. He never sits still long enough to set up roots anywhere. And even if he wanted to, Jefferson Winter is a freelancer. In other words, he goes wherever the work takes him.

As such, the character does not have the option of growing comfortable in any one location. Things normally start with a serial killer emerging somewhere in the United States or beyond.

In some cases, the serial killer in question is a new threat, a figure that only recently arose and who doesn’t have the most impressive of body counts. In other situations, the serial killer is an old case, an enemy the police in a particular location tried and failed to capture.

In all cases, the police departments and the task forces and all the law enforcement organizations in a given location have reached their wit’s end. They simply do not have the capacity to keep their respective populations safe.

And as a result, they have no choice but to call upon Jefferson Winter. And Jefferson Winter is always more than happy to lend his services to any law enforcement agency that needs him.

Jefferson stands out because, as far as investigators go, he is among the best. The former FBI agent has an IQ that would drop the jaws of most people, and he knows it, which is why the detective isn’t particularly likable at the start.

The hero knows what he has to offer. He knows that he is smarter than most people in any given room and that confidence shows, so much so that some readers initially complained that Jefferson was way too cocky and arrogant for their liking.

Jefferson always develops a rapport with at least one individual in a case, typically a police officer that has a grudge to settle with the serial killer in question. While this police officer often acts more like an apprentice who shadows Jefferson’s every move, doing what he can to learn from the best, the pair eventually learns to respect one another.

It takes a while but the case always comes to an end, with the serial killer either landing in a prison cell or a coffin. Jefferson never escapes unscathed, though he always leaves with his life. And from there, the detective hits the road and awaits another case, another killer to come calling.

Jefferson is an enigma when people first meet him. Over time, the author peels the layers back to reveal the sympathetic personality hiding underneath. The detective doesn’t fit the mold of the average law enforcement officer.

He drinks and smokes a lot, which is hardly surprising. But Jefferson also likes the finer things in life, which is why he always stays at a hotel suite rather than a motel room.

The detective spends a lot of time trying to figure out just how much of his father he might have inherited.

The Jefferson Winter series could be more accurately categorized as suspense thriller. James Carol creates very disturbing and relentless villains.

+The Author
James Carol is a British author who was born in 1969 in Scotland. He created the character of Jefferson Winter because James wanted to write a series of novels that would give him a little more storytelling freedom than the average suspense thriller.

It is for that reason that Jefferson is a freelance agent. When James isn’t writing, he can be found training horse riders.

+Watch Me
When a lawyer in Louisiana is burned alive, the local Sheriff doesn’t know what to make of the crime which seems to have no clear motive. Jefferson Winter is fairly certain that the town has a serial killer on its hands.

The police only have one body but Jefferson knows that more will emerge. The detective would know. His father was a serial killer, so Jefferson knows better than most how serial killers think.

+Prey
A young couple met a gruesome end some years back in Upstate New York. The police investigated the matter and eventually laid the crime at the feet of a suspect who eventually killed himself.

Everyone thought the matter was settled. But a mysterious female psychopath disagrees. Jefferson Winter had no real interest in the case until the woman in question came knocking on his door.

Now Jefferson has been drawn into a deadly game, one that will require him to figure out what happened six years ago before its too late.

Thriller Master Harlan Coben is back! The man of a thousand twists is back with his latest edge of the seat thriller. A perfect family has lost their daughter to drugs and an abusive boyfriend. The parent sees her in Central Park one day and approaches her. However she runs, and she's clearly in trouble. Of course if you're a Coben fan you don't even need a description - you know this book is going to be good. More Details.

Recommendations

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MISSING A BOOK?

I do my best to make sure the book lists are complete and current, but due to human or machine error while attempting to keep 3000+ authors up to date, the occasional book can be missed or will be listed under an alternate title. If you see one missing just send me an e-mail below. Thanks!

Author / Series

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Featured Author

It’s always exciting when an author starts a new series, and romantic suspense author of the Daniel Vartanian trilogy Karen Rose has started a new series recently. It’s called the Sacramento series and begins with Say You’re Sorry. Karen is our author of the month! Check out our Karen Rose page.

Did You Know…

Dean Koontz won an Atlantic Monthly Fiction Competition when he was a senior in college. He has an estimated number of over 400 million copies sold and his work has been published in more than 38 languages all over the world. His books have topped New York’s bestsellers’ list thirteen times and he also has to his credit of becoming the bestseller in countries as diverse as Sweden and Japan.